May, 2007 Technology and Disability Highlights
Volume: 7.05 May, 2007
Other Available Formats
Contents:
- Overview
- Legislative / Policy Activities
- Regulatory Activities
- Reports / Studies / Publications
- Other Activities and Items of Interest
- RERC Updates
- Upcoming Events
Overview
Efforts in Congress to technological accessibility for people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations continue this month. In April there was a profusion of broadband legislation on the Hill which continued into May. Introduced under the same name in the Senate in April, the Rural Broadband Initiative Act of 2007 [H.R. 2174] was introduced in the House this month. Congress also looked at removing financial barriers with the “Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act [H.R. 2329/S. 1410].
Other Bills of note that address people with disabilities include the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 [H.R. 1684] that provides for the inclusion of people with disabilities in emergency preparedness planning and access to emergency information; and the “Voting Enhancement and Security Act of 2007” [H.R. 2360] which stipulates that e-voting equipment be fully accessible.
On the regulatory front, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been discussing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and its accessibility through Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) and wireless enhanced 911 over VoIP. Along similar lines, the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee (CMSAAC) has been plugging away at drafting recommendations to the Commission concerning an advanced national alert system which is proactively taking into account creating an accessible alert notification system.
Legislative / Policy Activities
Accessible E-voting
05.17.2007 - Representatives Vernon J. Ehlers (R-MI), Daniel E. Lungren (R-CA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) introduced the “Voting Enhancement and Security Act of 2007” [H.R. 2360]. The proposed legislation would amend the “Help America Vote Act of 2002” [Public Law 107-252] to require States to meet Federal guidelines for the operation of electronic voting equipment, and for other purposes. Specifically, the Bill inserts a new subsection (f) Special Rules for Establishment of Guidelines for Electronic Voting Equipment that charges the Development Committee with delineating compliance guidelines, one of which protects the rights of people with disabilities to fully and independently participate in the electoral process. Proposed subsection (f)(1)(D) states that specific guidelines must be developed to provide “A technology that ensures that individuals with disabilities who are eligible to vote in the election can vote independently and without assistance.” The Bill also addresses election security protocols and contingency plans for managing voting system failures and other emergencies which may occur on election days. Employing a wireless network back-up with satellite link-up is a possible solution to establish redundancy in the e-voting system to prepare for potential system failures.
[Source: Library of Congress]
Broadband Deployment Act Re-introduced in the House
05.03.2007 - The streamlining of the broadband deployment initiative is anticipated to expedite deployment to not only underserved geographical areas, but also to underserved populations, people with disabilities, and low-income families. Representative John T. Salazar (D-CO) introduced to the House the Rural Broadband Initiative Act of 2007 [H.R. 2174] to amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish an Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives in the Department of Agriculture, to be headed by the Under Secretary for Rural Broadband Initiatives. In summary, H.R. 2174 states that the Under Secretary shall 1) administer all rural broadband-related grant and loan programs formerly administered by the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service, including the rural broadband access loan and loan guarantee program and the community connect grant program; 2) conduct rural outreach; 3) foster development of a comprehensive rural broadband strategic vision; 4) assess relevant technologies (including WiFi, WIMAX, DSL, cable, satellite, fiber, optical fiber and broadband over power lines); 5) serve as a single information source for all federal rural broadband programs and services; and 6) provide technical assistance to state, regional, and local governments to develop broadband deployment strategies. The Under Secretary is required to submit a report to the President and Congress of a comprehensive rural broadband strategy and a plan for the Rural Broadband Advisory Panel.
[Source: Library of Congress]
National Organization on Disability Gets Support from Congress
On May 11, 2007 the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2008 [H.R. 1684] was referred to the Senate committee and included the House amendment introduced by Representative James R. Langevin (D-RI) on May 9, 2007 to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Disability Coordinator at the Department for Homeland Security to enter into a cooperative agreement with the National Organization on Disability (NOD) to carry out NOD’s Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI). In response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, NOD embarked on a campaign to ensure that emergency managers address disability concerns and that people with disabilities are included in all areas of emergency preparedness – planning, response and recovery. EPI’s official authorization by H.R. 1684 should serve to propel the needs of people with disabilities in emergency preparedness to the forefront of discussions and policy decisions.
[Source: Library of Congress; National Organization on Disability]
Tax Credit for the Hearing Impaired
05.15.2007/05.16.2007 – In mid-May, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced bipartisan legislation to help the hearing impaired remove financial barriers to treatment. The “Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act” [H.R. 2329/S. 1410] offers a tax credit of up to $500 to cover costs of hearing aids that are not covered by insurance. The credit may be used once every five years. Eligibility for the credit goes to individuals over the age of 55 and parents of deaf or hard of hearing dependent children. If passed, the Bill will be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2007. Though the eligibility requirement excludes adults between the ages of 18 and 54, the Bill covers the populations with generally, a greater economic need (child dependents and the elderly).
[Source: Library of Congress]
Tax Credit for the Hearing Impaired
05.15.2007/05.16.2007 – In mid-May, Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced bipartisan legislation to help the hearing impaired remove financial barriers to treatment. The “Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act” [H.R. 2329/S. 1410] offers a tax credit of up to $500 to cover costs of hearing aids that are not covered by insurance. The credit may be used once every five years. Eligibility for the credit goes to individuals over the age of 55 and parents of deaf or hard of hearing dependent children. If passed, the Bill will be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2007. Though the eligibility requirement excludes adults between the ages of 18 and 54, the Bill covers the populations with generally, a greater economic need (child dependents and the elderly).
[Source: Library of Congress]
National Council on Disability Gets New Member
04.25.2007 - The U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of Cynthia Wainscott of Georgia as the newest member of the National Council on Disability (NCD). Ms. Wainscott, previously served as Chair of the National Mental Health Association's Board of Directors, and served as the World Federation for Mental Health's Vice President for North America and the Caribbean. In Georgia, Ms. Wainscott is a member of the Governor's MHMRSA Advisory Council, the state Medicaid agency's Drug Utilization Review Board, and the Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council. She is chair of the Georgia Parent Support Network, the Advisory Committee for Emory University’s Fuqua Center for Late Life Depression, and the Governance Committee of the Mental Health Services Coalition.
[Source: Library of Congress; The Campaign for Mental Health Reform.]
Regulatory Activities
Criminals Pretending to be Deaf Commit Credit Card Fraud via TRS
05.04.2007 - The FCC issued a public notice (DA 07-2006) in May alerting merchants accepting orders for goods by telephone to beware of non-disabled persons utilizing Internet based telecommunications relay service (IP Relay) to commit credit card fraud. The Commission received complaints of people impersonating deaf or hard of hearing individuals in order to perpetrate their crime. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals using IP Relay to place telephone orders are advised to use a current credit card with a sufficient amount of available credit to cover charges and avoid having the items shipped to a third party as these are two of the six indicators of fraud that the Commission outlines.
[Source: FCC]
Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee on Target for Fall Deadline
05.16.2007 - The FCC’s Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee (CMSAAC) held a meeting in which the five informal working groups gave presentations outlining their progress toward achieving their October 12, 2007 deadline for submitting recommendations to the Commission. The October deadline is imposed by the Warning Alert and Response Network Act (WARN Act) passed in Congress in the Fall of 2006. The Act’s purpose is to establish a unified national alert system that incorporates a wide variety of media, including wireless telecommunications, for delivering alerts to multiple forms of technology (including wireless handsets), and contains mechanisms for ensuring access to alerts by people with disabilities. The meeting materials and transcript have yet to be released, but as of their March 12, 2007 meeting the Project Management Group (PMG) of the CMSAAC reports that they are on target for assembling the work product of the working groups into draft recommendations for submittal to the Advisory Committee Chair. The User Needs Group (UNG), utilizing the working assumptions of the Consumer Technology Group (CTG), is responsible for addressing accessibility, and are developing recommendations for the PMG regarding emergency message formats, the “look and feel” for alerts, subscriptions, control, notification, presentation formats/ mechanisms, use cases and possible alert categories.
[Source: FCC; the Library of Congress]
Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund Rates
Announced
05.16.2007 - The FCC sought comment on the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) Telecommunications Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services Fund Payment Formula and Fund Size Estimate for the July 2007 through June 2008 fund year (2007 TRS Rate Filing) (CG Docket No. 03-123). NECA, the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund Administrator, recommends per minute compensation rates for the range of TRS delivery methods: traditional TRS, Speech to Speech (STS), IP Relay and Video Relay Service. The least expensive rate is for IP Relay at $1.1002 to $1.2268 per minute and the most expensive rate is for VRS at $4.3480 to $6.4370 per minute. Proposed carrier contributions range from 0.0052 to 0.0075 with a total Fund size requirement ranging from $397.0 million to $574.4 million. Comments were due on or before May 16, 2007 and reply comments on or before May 23, 2007.
[Source: FCC (DA 07-1978)]
New Provisions Added to the U.S. Access Board's Section 508 Compliance
05.22.2007–05.24.2007 - The United States Access Board’s Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) held its fourth meeting in late May at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA. TEITAC is in the process of reviewing and updating access standards for electronic and information technology covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The Committee is comprised of representatives from the disability community, industry, government and domestic and international standards-setting entities. The telecommunications working group added several new provisions to their draft report that address real-time text conversion from voice, transmission delay and accuracy of real-time text, and sign language support. The audio-video working group added a new provision to their draft report to make certain that interactive items in audio/video presentations are accessible. The general interface requirements and functional performance criteria working group modified several provisions to address providing alternative formats of information retrieval and mode of operation that allows for users to fully use all applications of the product either independently or with user’s assistive technology.
[Source: U.S. Access Board]
VoIP on the Agenda for the FCC's Open Meeting
05.24.2007 - The FCC released the agenda for its open meeting held on May 31, 2007. Among the items of interest to the disability community, the Commission will consider a Report and Order regarding revisions to its disability access rules under section 255 and to its Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) rules under section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934 to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers. VoIP services, due to its relatively inexpensive rates, are rapidly spreading throughout households in the United States. In order for this technology to be inclusive of people with disabilities policies are being considered to ensure that the technology is developed taking into account their specific needs. Along those lines, it has been recommended that VoIP be classified as a telecommunications service (as opposed to an information service) so that rules and regulations regarding accessibility are extended to VoIP services. Other items of interest on the agenda are the Commission's consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning wireless Enhanced 911 location accuracy and automatic location identification for interconnected VoIP services, and an order concerning recommendations submitted by the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks.
[Source: FCC]
Reports / Studies / Publications
Department of Justice Releases New ADA Tool Kit Chapters
05.07.2007 - The Civil Rights Division (CRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) released the third installment of their “ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments.” Chapter 5 of the tool kit contains practical guidelines and resources for ensuring equal access to programs, services and activities offered on State and local government web sites. The previous installment Chapter 4 addresses 9-1-1 Emergency Communications access. Through Project Civic Access (PCA), for the past six years the CRD has worked in conjunction with State and local governments to achieve ADA compliance and has achieved improved access for more than 2 million people with disabilities.
[Source: U.S. Department of Justice]
Other Activities and Items of Interest
APT/CWA Broadband Experience Survey
05.11.2007 - The Alliance for Public Technology (APT) has received funding from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to update their state survey and case studies reports regarding universal access to high speed networks and services in the United States. They are requesting that the public respond with examples of broadband applications (killer apps) that have a life altering impact. This is an appropriate venue for the disability community to provide input regarding personal and/or professional experiences with broadband applications whether they are mainstream or assistive applications.
- The Alliance for Public Technology (APT)
- Send submissions to Maytal Seizer, APT Program Associate at mseizer@apt.org
[Source: Alliance for Public Technology]
Congressman Markey Sets Example by Captioning YouTube Submission
05.11.2007 - Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, used a camcorder to record the open hearing on the future of digital media. He is the first Congressman to submit a video to YouTube, and more significant than that milestone, is that he ensured accessibility to people who are deaf and hard of hearing by having the video clip captioned. There is currently no policy requiring that video content available on the internet be accessible. Congressman Markey’s voluntary use of open captioning sets an example and exhibits his commitment to accessible communications. Captioning was provided by the Media Access group at WGBH.
[Source: AAPD]
Downloadable Textbooks for the Blind & Visually Impaired
05.08.2007 - Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed legislation to provide for electronic access to text books and course materials. The Higher Education – Blind and Print Disabled Students – Instructional Materials Act [SB0268] requires the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (MLBPH) to assemble an Instructional Materials Access Guidelines Committee by December 1, 2007, in order to direct the distribution of instructional materials to blind and print disabled students. Textbooks will be converted into an electronic format specified by the MLBPH and will be downloadable to computer or Braille devices.
[Source: Office of the Governor, Maryland; National Federation for the Blind]
Snap! VRS Names Jeff Rosen General Counsel and Government Affairs VP
05.14.2007 - Snap! VRS, a video relay service provider and distributor of the Ojo™ video phone, named Jeff Rosen as General Counsel and Vice President of Government Affairs. Rosen will work to advance laws and policies that will increase opportunity for the Deaf community through advanced telecommunications technology, and, of course, video relay services (VRS). One of his goals is to increase availability of VRS to underserved populations within the Deaf community. Before joining Snap! VRS Rosen served seven years as General Counsel and Director of Policy for the National Council on Disability and prior to that he was the senior attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
[Source: Snap! VRS]
Mainstream Software With Assistive Attributes
05.24.2007 - Atlanta based SpinVox, a subsidiary of SpinVox Ltd. of the U.K. released Spin-my-Vmail a service that turns voicemails into text and sends them to a mobile phone and/or e-mail account. While this service was not designed specifically for people who are deaf or hard of hearing (Deaf/HoH), the benefits to that community are clear. There is no difference to the caller, and users can forward the transcribed message or reply by sending and e-mail or text message. Additionally, SpinVox successfully transcribes messages in French, Spanish and German. This mainstream technology allows for the Deaf/HoH community to effectively communicate with both non-hearing impaired people and people who are Deaf/HoH.
- U.S. customers can get afree one-year trial of Spin-my-Vmail.
[Source: SpinVox Ltd.]
RERC Updates
New Publication Released
The Wireless RERC issued its first Wireless Industry Newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to update current industry colleagues on the state of our projects and to invite new contacts within the wireless industry to participate in activities and provide input on initiatives such as the Consumer Advisory Network, Survey of User Needs (SUN), MyWirelessReview.com, and more.
- To subscribe to the newsletter please contact Ben Lippincott via e-mail.
FCC Filing on Use of 700 Mhz Spectrum
The Wireless RERC filed comments with the FCC in response to the Commission's Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, specifically PS Docket No. 06-229 and WT Docket No. 96-86 on public safety use of spectrum in the 700Mhz band and the implementation of a nationwide, broadband, interoperable public safety network.
2007 Student Design Competition - Inclusive Wireless: Out and About
Inclusive Wireless is an annual design competition sponsored by the Wireless RERC, beginning in Spring, 2007. Each year the primary focus of designing wireless technology to meet the needs of people diverse in age and ability will be coupled with a unique challenge. The challenge centers both on user needs and on situational impairments that impact the experience of all users. The purpose of this competition is to engender in future designers the sensitivity and expertise to meet the needs of people of all ages and abilities in the design of wireless technologies. The Wireless RERC student design competition is endorsed by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).The deadline this year is June 15, 2007.
Wireless RERC CSUN 2007 Presentations
Wireless RERC researchers presented at the 2007 CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference (March 19-24, 2007). Helena Mitchell, Wireless RERC Co-Director presented “Emergency Communications and People with Disabilities: Using next generation alerts to reach critical populations.” Paul M.A. Baker, Project Director, and Nathan Moon, Research Specialist presented “Technological Access Barriers for People with Disabilities: Wireless RERC Policy Change.
Upcoming Events
ICAD '07: Immersed in Organized Sound
The Schulich School of Music of McGill University will host the 13th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), in association with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), in Montreal, Canada, June 26-29, 2007. ICAD is a forum for presenting research on the use of sound to display data, monitor systems, and provide enhanced user interfaces for computers and virtual reality systems. It is unique in its singular focus on auditory displays and the array of perception, technology, and application areas that this encompasses.
- More information on ICAD '07
National Federation of the Blind National Convention 2007
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), an advocacy organization for individuals with visual impairments, will be holding its 2007 national convention from June 30 to July 6, 2007 in Atlanta, GA. The NFB is expecting more than 3,000 people from across the United States and some foreign countries to be in attendance. The NFB convention is “the supreme authority and policy-making body of the organization.” This event gives government representatives, agency administrators, and leaders in politics, business, and industry the opportunity to address and respond to a sizable nationwide audience primarily of individuals who are blind and visually impaired.
- More information on the National Federation of the Blind National Convention 2007
RESNA 2007 Annual Conference
The RESNA Annual Conference will be held in Phoenix, Arizona from June 15-19, 2007. The conference is a way of bringing together individuals and companies who share an interest in technology and disability.
- More information on the RESNA 2007 Annual Conference
Stand up and Speak Out
The Hearing Loss Network at Virginia Tech presents Stand up and Speak Out: Empower Yourself with Better Communication! -- “Living with hearing loss can at times be challenging –learn strategies and skills that you can use every day to enrich your interactions and make your life easier.” This free event takes place on the Virginia Tech campus on Saturday, June 2, 2007.
WEC’s Policy Recommendations Inform Final Rule
ASSETS 2008
